


burn brighter still

by emrys (livingshitpost)



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: 99 Lives, Character Death, Character Death Fix, Child Death, Child Soldiers, Diaspora, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Mandalorian Culture, Mando'a, Original Character Death(s), Somebody Lives/Not Everyone Dies, Wakes & Funerals
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-04
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:21:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24781468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/livingshitpost/pseuds/emrys
Summary: One life is spared. Another is cut short. Brothers are left to mourn.
Relationships: 99 & CT-21-0408 | Echo, 99 & CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, 99 (Star Wars) & Original Clone Trooper Chracter(s), CC-2224 | Cody & CT-7567 | Rex
Comments: 4
Kudos: 23





	burn brighter still

Dash’s breathing is slow and shallow; it doesn’t take a medic to tell he doesn't have long.

Still, 99 kneels down and holds his hand.

“I’ve got you, kih’vod,” he says softly. “It’s okay.”

Dash’s eyes are unfocused. His heart flutters faintly in his chest. His hand trembles in 99’s grasp.

Dash’s batchers huddle around the two of them. Their hands press to their brother’s hands, chest, arms, and shoulders. Resin cradles Dash’s head in his lap.

“We're here, Dash,” Trip chokes. “We’re here. We’re here.”

“We’ve got you,” Middle adds.

“It’s gonna be okay,” Toner tells him. “It’s gonna . . . ”

99 bites his lip as the faint pitter-patter of the boy's heart comes to a stop.

“He's gone,” he says softly. Trip turns to hide his face in 99’s shoulder, and 99 instinctively wraps his arms around his younger brother in a gentle embrace. His gaze, however, doesn’t leave Dash’s face until Resin leans over him, hair falling like a curtain.

In an hour, he’d seen two of his brothers fall to those shabla clankers.

Echo and Fives, pistols bared, sweep over the B1s littering the barracks.

“Everyone alright?” Rex asks, pulling off his helmet. His gaze falls on the six of his brothers on the floor. “Oh, no.”

“He’s dead,” Middle breathes. “Dash is dead.”

Rex sighs through his nose. “Anyone else?”

99 shakes his head. “Only one casualty.” The words are heavy on his tongue.  _ Only one. _ As if that relieves the pain of losing a brother so young. He couldn’t have been older than five or six. 

Toner sobs. Middle pulls him into a tight hug. 

“We had a field exercise next week,” Trip says softly. “Our first one. He was so excited . . . ”

Echo, Fives, Rex, and Cody gently pull them all away from Dash. 99 leans against Echo, trembling, and watches Cody lift the small body into his arms. Once Rex closes his eyes, he almost looks like he’s asleep. He and Cody start towards the exit. 

“Vod,” Fives says as 99 shuffles off to follow them. 

“Let him go,” Echo tells him. 

Resin glances at his remaining batchers. The four of them trail after 99, Rex, and Cody, leaving Echo and Fives to either stand in the silent barracks or bring up the rear. It’s not a difficult choice. 

99 is well-versed in how the biological recycling facility works. Cody lays Dash on a sterile metal table, and the eyeball droid overhead scans him for salvagable parts. Notes are made and he’s packed into a stasis chamber. It dwarfs him. Trip puts his forehead against the transperisteel — a final kov’nyn. 

“Nu kyr’adyc,” 99 whispers. “Shi taab'echaaj'la.”

Toner glances up at him. “What does that mean?”

“Not gone,” Cody says. “Just marching far away.”

“But he  _ is _ gone,” Middle whimpers. 

“I know.” Rex bites his lip. “I’m assuming you don’t know the Mando remembrances.”

Toner shakes his head. 

“His name was Dash?”

Toner nods. 

“Alright. Repeat after me, yeah? Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. Dash.”

“Ni su’cuyi, gar kyr’adyc, ni partayli, gar darasuum. Dash.” Toner’s gaze falls once more on his fallen brother’s face, blurred by the translucent transperisteel. “What does it mean?”

“I’m still alive, but you are dead. I remember you, so you are eternal.”

Toner nods. He forces himself to stare at the ground. 

“It’s better,” Middle allows. 99 puts an arm around his shoulder and holds him close. 

99 wants to sing the Aay’han, but doesn’t know the words.


End file.
